Rodrigo hadn’t even been to a birthday party since he was in elementary school, so his knowledge of high-school parties came mainly from TV and movies. Based on what he gathered from his classmates back when he was still a student, the reality was usually a lot of hype that could never live up to the ragers on-screen. The only guarantees were pictures posted on social media that would be regretted by those tagged in them when they sobered up. So, when Adena pulled the Escalade over at the end of a block where hundreds of teens were milling about, the entire street vibrating from muffled trap music, Rodrigo had to re-evaluate his expectations.

  In the driver’s seat beside him, Adena looked like the sight alone was giving her a migraine. “Is this a party or a carnival?”

  “Yeah, there’s a few more people here than we thought there’d be,” Leila said from the backseat.

  “Oh, just a few?” Rodrigo asked, the sheer numbers grating on him, too. He was never a fan of crowds, and if there were this many people outside, counting those inside, they probably totaled closer to a thousand. He wondered how many of them felt secure enough to be here because of the D.N.F, and how many were just tired of living in fear, refusing to continue letting the mere threat of demons bring their everyday lives to a standstill. “Honestly, there’s so many kids here the cops are probably coming to break it up any minute.”

  In the rearview mirror, Rodrigo caught Jett grinning. “Nope. Sorry, spoilsport, but unless people start going real loco, I wouldn’t count on that. Check out the houses. See how busted up they are? My friend Valerie and some other seniors picked this place because, besides some squatters, the entire block’s abandoned. Not that the police have time for noise complaints, anyway.”

  It was true. Long stretches of vacant homes like this existed all over the world now. Rodrigo’s old neighborhood, Lunar Peak, had been hit hard. The Spiral, the black tower he had spent much time being alone with his thoughts at, had been built over one of the portals to Hell. And when the demons had burst from it, they had savaged everything in its immediate vicinity before spreading out. In the months since, he hadn’t run into a single one of his neighbors from back there.

  Adena put the car in reverse, and for a blissful moment, Rodrigo thought she was taking them home.

  Jett let out an aggravated sigh. “If you two don’t wanna go that badly, then drop me and Leila off here.”

  “Relax, I’m just parking a few blocks away,” Adena said, and Rodrigo was shocked she didn’t take the offered out. He wasn’t sure whether she was trying to challenge herself by doing something so far outside her comfort zone, or if after all the hours of build-up, she genuinely wanted to go. “I rather not have to cripple some drunk neanderthal for vandalizing my car.”

  When they left the vehicle, Jett led them back to the block where the party was. Past the jealous stares of the uninvited loiterers, and the several Dusks that traded nods with Rodrigo, assuming he was one of them. Months back, when he had first started seeing all these enraged kids inspired to violence by his actions, he had been creeped out and concerned for how their behavior would reflect on him. Now, they had become such a normal part of society, that even seeing them in numbers didn’t faze him.

  Then there were the seeming army of guys following Leila with their eyes. A few of them whistled at her. She must have endured this to a lesser degree daily, but tonight it was intensified by her more revealing attire, and that even outside the party, a number of the teens were intoxicated, bolstering their confidence.

  One of them had the nerve to shout, “Nice rack, cutie!”

  Before Leila could decide if she wanted to acknowledge the jeer, Rodrigo spun. His group stopped and stiffened, probably expecting him to fly off the handle. A bunch of bored teenagers also watched for his reaction, hoping to see a fight break out.

  Ignoring the impulse to backhand the smirking guy through the wall he was leaning against, Rodrigo gave him a warm smile. He lifted his shirt up to his chest, baring his torso and winking at the guy, shouting back, “Thanks, bud! I’ve been working on my pecs!”

  The tension shattered as the block erupted into laughter, and the catcaller had a mortified expression. Adena looked nearly as embarrassed, as she put her head down and sped up, distancing herself from them.

  “You didn’t need to do that,” Leila said, as they continued walking, Rodrigo slowing his pace to fall into step with her.

  “What?” he asked, struggling to keep a straight face. “I was just letting him know I appreciated him noticing my gains in the gym.”

  Leila shook her head, failing to suppress a smile. “You’re such an ass sometimes.”

  Jett stopped outside the building in the best condition. Unlike the rest, it had all its windows intact and no large chunks of brick missing from the walls. He pounded on the door, wanting to be heard over the music that had grown even louder this close.

  “With all these people in the street, maybe the house is at max capacity,” Rodrigo suggested.

  “Nah. I don’t recognize most of these kids. Either the guest list got real outta control, or they got drawn here by the noise.”

  When the door finally opened, it revealed a petite girl with brown skin, wearing a green and white floral short-sleeved dress, and round rose-tinted glasses. Her eyebrows disappeared into the auburn bangs of her tousled waves, which fell to her shoulders. She seemed a freshman at the most.

  “Hey, Val,” Jett said, and Rodrigo had to check his bewilderment. “This is my cousin Ruy I was telling you about, and our friend Adena.”

  “Oh, hi, guys. Sorry, Jett, the kid I had on doorman duty wandered off,” Valerie said, practically shouting over the beat blaring behind her. She leaned in to give him a quick hug. Then turned her attention to Leila. “And you’re Ted’s girl...Lola?”

  “Leila.”

  Valerie winced. “Sorry. I haven’t learned all the other seniors’ names yet, never mind the juniors.”

  Rodrigo looked to Leila, who was avoiding his stare. For once, Raquel had used her years of experience as a tattletale for his benefit, so he wasn’t completely blindsided by the existence of a boyfriend. But he had never heard a word about him from Leila herself, so he assumed it wasn’t anything serious. Though, it wasn’t like he had expected a girl as beautiful as her to stay single and wait for him, until he regained control of his chaotic life. Besides, if he had lost her to some other guy, it was his own fault for pushing her away.

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  Valerie’s gaze slid to Rodrigo, as she studied him for a moment. “Kudos.”

  “Huh?”

  “You look a lot like him. With a grungier outfit you could probably win a cosplay contest or something.” Still dwelling on that, “Ted’s Girl” comment, it took Rodrigo a few seconds to realize Valerie was talking about his resemblance to himself. Even with the darkness he operated in, it was a minor miracle no one managed to capture a clear picture of his face yet. But based on eyewitness accounts, the media had long since put together a semi-accurate physical description. “You’re too tall, though.”

  Rodrigo savored those words he’d never heard before and barring a major growth spurt in his future, likely never would again. “I am?”

  “Yeah. I know the internet bills him at, like, five-seven, but he saved my brother, Nathan, from some of those spider thingies. According to him, Karma came in spinning like some kind of ass-kicking dwarf, and sliced them to pieces.”

  “Nate’s not here, is he?” Jett asked, since it’d be too suspicious if Rodrigo had. Though, he doubted someone who had been under the panic-inducing influence of the festered would be able to recognize him today, it couldn’t hurt to make sure.

  Valerie snorted lightly. “Mr. student council surrounded by people actually having fun? Yeah, right. Not like our parents would let the golden boy out, anyway. I had to tell them I was going to a sleepover at a friend’s house, and even with my friends’ parents covering for us, whenever someone aims a phone my way, I feel like I’m at gunpoint, because I just know they’ll be checking all my close friends’ insta—”

  “No offense, Valerie, it’s a nice night and all, but can we go inside?” Leila asked, showing a hint of irritation.

  “Ah, yeah, of course. I just needed to step out for a bit. Feels like I’m getting tinnitus in there. Come in.”

  Valerie led them inside, and Rodrigo immediately understood why she needed fresh air. The hallway was packed wall-to-wall with people holding red plastic cups, and the smell of pot and tobacco was thick all around them. Overhead, strobe lights were flashing, flickering to a new color every second as they cycled through the rainbow. The bass was so loud at this point, that Rodrigo was thankful Resent’s regeneration would undo any damage done to his hearing.

  “So, you guys are kinda late, and the kegs are running dry, but I stashed some drinks away, just let me...” Valerie paused as she looked at the bottom of the staircase where a burly guy in a black and yellow varsity jacket with an E patched onto the left breast was passed out. She prodded him with her foot. “Kevin. Kevin! You’re supposed to be watching the door. If I have to answer it one more time, you’re not getting paid for this.”

  Kevin sat up, bleary-eyed, and yawned. “No one’s knocked, you little slave driver. I’ve been here the whole time. Oh, hey, Jett, when’d you get here?”

  She pointed at Jett and the rest of them. “They just knocked. You were too smashed to hear it. And stop letting in randos to rob us blind. If I have to chase down another berserk preteen with two bottles in his hands, I’m gonna lose it.”

  “Anything to stop the angry squeaking,” Kevin mumbled, standing up and staggering over to the front door. He leaned against the wall beside it before slumping back to the floor and shutting his eyes again.

  Valerie shook her head in disgust, then turned back to them. “Sorry about that. What can I get you?”

  “Coffee,” Adena said flatly. “Black.”

  “C-coffee? Are you joking?”

  “No. I don’t have enough caffeine in my bloodstream to deal with any part of this night.”

  “I saw a coffee maker in the kitchen, and Jett somehow got the house’s electricity working. I’ll check if the cabinets have any coffee.” Valerie looked at Rodrigo. “And you?”

  For a second, he considered asking for a beer. If Miriam had done one thing right, it was keeping the alcohol out of the house, so he had never so much as sipped any. But even if the regeneration didn’t negate the effects, like he imagined it would, he didn’t ever want to find himself in a state resembling one of his mother’s drunken stupors. “Any kind of soda’s fine.”

  Valerie was staring at them like they were aliens. “Are you guys straight edge or something?”

  “Maybe they are,” Jett said. “I’m sure not. Point me to the hard stuff.”

  Rodrigo knew his cousin was stressed about tomorrow, but he was still taken aback. “Whoa. Since when do you drink, man? What would God think?”

  “I think he’d agree I’ve earned it. You think I came here to dance my troubles away, Ruy?”

  Rodrigo wasn’t here to babysit anyone, so he dropped it. “How about you, Le—” He trailed off as he noticed Leila had drifted away from them at some point. No doubt to find her boyfriend, he realized bitterly.

  “Okay, so, Jett, follow me,” Valerie said. “You two, head into the living room. I’ll come find you in a bit.”

  When Jett and Valerie disappeared deeper into the house, Rodrigo and Adena wove their way through the throng of people, and into the living room. Thankfully, the atmosphere there was calmer, with most people just sitting and chatting while they snacked or drank. The only real disruption was a table set up where a couple guys, who already seemed drunk enough based on how rowdy they were being, were playing beer pong with the goal of getting even drunker.

  Adena sat at the end of a couch, determined not to do a thing until she got her coffee. Rodrigo sat next to her before a stranger could, and make her more uncomfortable than she already was. Fate must have had a cruel sense of humor, because sitting on a loveseat across the room from them was Leila. Her boyfriend, Ted, was wearing the same letterman jacket as Kevin, and had his arm draped around her shoulders.

  Rodrigo leaned closer to Adena and whispered, “Did you know? About Ted?”

  She nodded. “I didn’t mention him because he’s not important. In the two months they’ve been dating, she’s brought him up maybe three times.”

  Rodrigo found that cold comfort. For those two months, he’d been left in the dark by everyone but his sister. In Adena’s case, maybe it could be chalked up to girl code, but being in the same school, Jett had to have known, too, and chose to tell him nothing. The only one Rodrigo could believe was clueless was Geo.

  “Stop glowering at them before he decides to come over here,” Adena said.

  Rodrigo scoffed. “That’d be a mistake on his part.”

  “Careful, your father’s sense of entitlement is showing. Last I checked, you two weren’t engaged or even dating, so maybe stow the outrage and stop acting like she’s cheating on you.”

  The words were just the verbal slap Rodrigo needed. Here Resent was giving him some peace and quiet for once, and he was spending his time brooding over things he wasn’t in a position to change.

  Rodrigo wrenched his eyes from Ted and Leila sharing a bowl of popcorn, and smiled at Adena. “I know you didn’t want to, but I’m glad you came. Resent’s been giving me the silent treatment all day, and I guess I’ve gotten so used to his put-downs that I’ve forgotten how to act without them.”

  Adena looked away, suddenly finding the game of beer pong fascinating.

  “Uh-oh. What aren’t you telling me?” Rodrigo asked.

  “Nothing.”

  “Mm-hmm. That poker-face of yours might fool everyone else, but we’ve spent too much time together, Dena. I know your tells, even if they’re subtle.” Like when she chose to break her almost unflinching eye contact.

  Adena turned back to him with an unusually guilty expression. “Fine. I know you said no gifts, but I didn’t listen. I considered buying you something practical, like a prosthetic, or a weapon. But then I thought about what I’d want more than anything if our roles were reversed. And it’s privacy. So, I bribed Resent to leave you alone for the day. I only meant for him to hush up, though, after a while, I saw his soul fly by and exit the warehouse. If he keeps to our agreement, then congratulations. For the next several hours, your body’s your own again.”